Blaise Matuidi, former midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain (2011-2017) and the French national team (2018 world champion), spoke to AFP about a number of topics. In particular, he discussed the Champions League final (May 31) between PSG and Inter Milan, as well as coach Luis Enrique, the departure of Kylian Mbappé (26-year-old striker) last summer and the rise of Ousmane Dembélé (28-year-old striker).
Matuidi “they’re going to have a whole city behind them and even, I think, a large part of the country.”
“The Parisians have shown right from the start of this competition that they have a chance of winning it. In any case, they’re going to have a whole city behind them and even, I believe, a large part of the country, and I think that’s going to work.
Inter are a very strong opponent, a well-organized Italian team who are also capable of scoring a lot of goals, as they showed against Barcelona. It’s going to be a great game of soccer, hopefully with a win for Paris.
Matuidi “knows how to build a group.
Luis Enrique?
He’s already done it with Barcelona and the Spanish national team, and now we’re seeing it with PSG. He’s a great coach and knows how to build a group.
Mbappé’s departure?
Paris has bounced back from this big departure. Kylian is also doing great things at Madrid on an individual level”.
Dembélé ?
He’s having an extraordinary season. Everyone knows about his talent, but today he’s effective, and that’s what makes the difference.”
There’s no doubt about it, the Champions League final will be intense. Everyone can pick a favourite, but it’s hard to be objective, and in any case, it’ll be worthless on the pitch. Both teams have good arguments.
We have no doubt that the Parisians will be pushing their team as hard as they can, and Matuidi is right to point to a certain amount of widespread support in France. Of course, not everyone will be with PSG, and that’s understandable. There are rivalries that take priority.
The most important thing for the Parisians is to have a team that has brought back a link with the fans thanks to its collective. The team is capable of great things and has proved it this season. Coach Luis Enrique’s hard work is clearly to be commended.
The departure of Kylian Mbappé may also have helped, even if we don’t want to go into too much detail on the subject just yet. Matuidi is very clear on this: everyone is happy to be playing separately today.
Dembélé has taken up the slack very well, scoring more goals than usual and of a certain importance. What’s more, he’s a real team leader. The striker now often used as a false 9, another of Luis Enrique’s great successes, is now a huge asset. But not everything depends on him, and that’s PSG’s strength.
